Coming Home
by FrodoFever
Summary: COMPLETE A nineteen year old Morgan Hess comes back from his freshman year at college to find everything different. His father's acting strange and has a girlfriend, Bo's more mature, and Merrill is playing baseball again. Can't do summaries, R&R please!
1. Chapter One

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /  
  
Morgan Hess stood in front of his old house looking up at the two-story building that he had once called home when he was younger. After leaving home for college, Morgan never considered coming back to the place where so many bad memories hid themselves like hidden weeds among the flowers to cut you when you least expect it.  
  
Morgan took a breath and stepped up onto the porch and knocked on the door. Immediately a dog started barking like crazy and another one began joining in with the first one. The just-turned nineteen year-old smiled slightly. He recognized the first dog as Isabel, one of the dogs that Morgan grew up with. But he didn't recognize the second dog. Maybe it was the dog that replaced Houdini that his father had talked about.  
  
"I'm coming! Just hold on a minute," a voice said within the house. "Get back, you stupid dogs get back. Isabel, Buddy, get back!"  
  
Finally the door opened and Morgan saw him faced with his fourteen year-old sister, Bo. Morgan broke into a grin and opened up his arms for a hug. Bo grinned back and rushed into Morgan's arms and the two of them hugged for about five minutes before breaking apart.  
  
"I've missed you, Morgan," Bo exclaimed. "Come in, come in."  
  
"I've missed you, too, Bo," Morgan said as he stepped into the house and Bo closed the door behind him. "How's everybody been?"  
  
"Oh, as normal as ever. Or abnormal, as I should say," Bo said, smiling.  
  
"Is uncle Merrill still working at the gas station?" Morgan asked.  
  
"Yes, but he's starting to get back into baseball again. He's always loved baseball, you know," Bo answered.  
  
Morgan nodded. "I see."  
  
"Morgan, it's good to see you!" Graham came into the front hallway and walked over to his son, embracing Morgan's arm before reaching out with his other arm and giving a full-armed hug.  
  
"Nice to see you, too, dad," Morgan said, hugging his father back.  
  
Graham pulled back from his son and gave him a look over. "My, you've grown since the last I saw you. How's college?"  
  
"It's ok. The freshman year's kind of hard because you're the newsies and have to learn the rules of the campus. But I think next year will be better," Morgan said, grinning.  
  
"Well, come in, come in. Let's go in the living room. Your uncle Merrill won't be here for another hour. He's taking up baseball again if Bo hasn't informed as much," Graham said as they moved into the family room.  
  
Morgan sat down on the couch next to Bo and looked around. Everything was the same as Morgan had left it, everything in the same position. There were so many memories in this room that he couldn't count them.  
  
Morgan turned to Bo and grinned. "I see that you're not leaving glasses of water around everywhere like you used to."  
  
Bo gently punched her brother in the arm. "Come off it, Morgan. I haven't done that since I was five and anyways, that was when I had some unconscious knowing that the aliens were coming and I needed to place the glasses everywhere."  
  
Morgan frowned slightly. "You remember that?"  
  
"Of course. If something big happens early in your life, then you're bound to remember it. And anyways, I was five years old then, I can remember a lot of stuff at five," Bo said.  
  
"I know. I was just teasing you. I know you have a good memory, Bo," Morgan assured his sister.  
  
"So, anyways, what was your favorite subject at college, Morgan?" Graham asked quickly, a little too quickly to change the subject in Morgan's opinion. "Did you make any new friends?"  
  
"Well, actually, I liked all my classes. You know, Spanish, English, World History. I find it all interesting. And yeah, I've made a few friends in the geek section," Morgan exclaimed.  
  
"The geek section?" Bo giggled.  
  
"Yeah. Where all the people who are too smart for their own good and nobody wants to be with them because we're too smart," Morgan replied.  
  
"Now, come on, Morgan, don't be so stereotypical," Graham chided his son.  
  
"But hey, it's true," Morgan said.  
  
Just then, Merrill came in with a bat over his shoulder. He was a broad shouldered man in his thirties. His moppy brown hair was soaked in sweat and dirt and sweat mingled on his face. Morgan didn't doubt that the girls would kill to see him like this in person and get a picture with the guy. Morgan wished he had that kind of thing with the girls.  
  
"Hey, Morgan. I didn't know if you'd be here or not when I got back. But it's good to see you!" Merrill exclaimed.  
  
"Good to see you too, uncle Merrill," Morgan replied.  
  
"I didn't expect you home so early, Merrill," Graham commented.  
  
"Yeah, well. Coach said we could leave early since we've been doing good all practice," Merrill replied.  
  
Graham nodded. Morgan noticed that Merrill was his normal self as usual, but his brother had somehow changed in the last year. What was wrong?  
  
"Well, I guess I better get up to my room and get myself rested, shouldn't I?" Morgan stated.  
  
"Yes, you should because we're going to go out to eat later on tonight, if that's ok with you," Graham said.  
  
Morgan nodded. "That's fine with me." Morgan stood up and started walking towards the stairs to head towards his room. He heard a soft pattering behind him and turned around to see Bo walking after him.  
  
"I thought you might want company," Bo said sheepishly.  
  
"If you're meaning to ask if you can come in my room with me, fine. I don't mind, really. I have to get used to it at college, what with roommates and everything," Morgan said, smiling slightly.  
  
Bo smiled back. Morgan couldn't help but notice that Bo had such a pretty smile. Actually, she was quite beautiful. Maybe she had a boyfriend now. After all, all freshman high school girls liked getting boyfriends, or at least most of them, anyways.  
  
As they came into Morgan's room, Morgan stripped off his clothes to only his underwear and flopped onto his bed. It was so warm and comfortable, and he wanted to sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep while his sister was visiting with him.  
  
"You shouldn't strip down to your underwear with me around, now, Morgan," Bo said. "Maybe that's ok when we were little kids because we didn't know the difference."  
  
"Oh, come on, Bo, you've seen me half-naked when we go swimming," Morgan protested.  
  
"Yeah, but that's different," Bo argued back.  
  
"Don't see no difference," Morgan shrugged.  
  
Bo sighed and sat on the edge of Morgan's bed. "Do you think dad's acting a bit strange, to you?"  
  
"Yeah, I kind of do. What's his problem, do you know?" Morgan asked.  
  
"A little. He's found a new woman and she's weird. She doesn't like teenagers a whole lot and she's always trying to tell dad how to raise me," Bo stated.  
  
"That's a little harsh," Morgan said.  
  
Bo nodded. "Yeah, it is. And she said when you get here she's going to try and straighten you out, too."  
  
"Oh, something to look foreword to," Morgan said sarcastically. "What's her name?"  
  
"Yeah, really. The woman's name's Ayanna," Bo said.  
  
"What...an unusual name," Morgan said.  
  
Bo nodded. "Well, I better let you get some sleep or you'll be dead at the restaurant."  
  
Morgan smiled. "See you later, then."  
  
"'Bye," Bo said and soon she got up from the bed and left.  
  
Morgan sighed and turned over onto his side. He and his sister were unusually close than most siblings, but Morgan didn't mind. He liked it better that way. Before drifting off to sleep, Morgan thought of how everything seemed changed after he got back from his freshman year at college- His father acting strange, getting a new girlfriend, etc. Oh, well, he'd have to get used to it.  
  
Morgan Hess soon fell into a dreamless sleep, not worrying about anything. He'd let things go with the flow for a while.  
  
Author's Note: Here you go, everybody. I hope you liked it. I think this is going to be a good story, but I don't know, you all will just have to review. Thanks much for reviewing! You keep reviewing and I'll keep writing because I know you all love reading and reviewing. 


	2. Chapter Two

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /  
  
"So how's it going at college, Morgan?" Merrill asked in between bites at the restaurant.  
  
Morgan pushed his plate away as he answered. "Yeah, it's alright. Not what I would expect it to be, but close enough."  
  
"But then again, you were always the brain growing up," Graham said, smiling slightly.  
  
"Do you still believe in aliens?" Merrill asked.  
  
The whole family suddenly went tense. Morgan looked around at his family. Merrill was picking at his food, Bo was watching Morgan expectantly, and Graham was staring determinately at the tablemat.  
  
"Yes, I do. I mean, that one time still burned vividly in my memory. It has in everybody's in the world and it's not going to disappear in a hurry. And we need to be prepared for when the next invasion comes, whenever that may be," Morgan answered carefully. "Why do you ask?"  
  
Merrill shook his head. "I was just wondering."  
  
"If you ask my opinion, I believe they don't exist," Graham said stiffly.  
  
Morgan stared at his father in shock. How could he just sit there and say that when they had seen it with their own eyes that one terrifying night when nobody was sure if they'd survive until morning.  
  
"How can you say something like that, dad?" Morgan asked, horrified. "You saw them that night, there's no denying it."  
  
"Ayanna says the aliens were only a figment of our imaginations and that everybody cracked under the strain of everyday lives. We're stressed and everybody's hallucinating," Graham exclaimed.  
  
"Dad...me almost dying from a asthma attack wasn't a figment of anybody's imagination. Me almost being killed from a green, bug-eyed alien wasn't a figment of the imagination. It was real and you know that, dad. You saw it, everybody did," Morgan said, feeling his breathing quicken up into short breaths again. He pulled his inhaler out and soon his breathing slowed back down to normal. Handy little inhalers, those, though they were quite annoying to carry around. But it was necessary.  
  
"Are you saying that you're disagreeing with me?" Graham asked in a deadly soft voice. Morgan should know the danger signs; he'd seen his father act like this before. But that had only been once when everybody was afraid for his or her own life. But why was Graham acting like this right now? What had happened when Morgan was nine DID indeed happen and nobody could deny that. Something was suspicious about all of this and Morgan couldn't figure it all out.  
  
Morgan stared straight at his father. "Yes, that's what I'm saying. I'm disagreeing with you, dad. Because I know that I'm right and that you can't deny or change any of it and you know it's true."  
  
Graham leaned foreword so he was closer to Morgan's face. "I don't know about you, son, but I think you're making this all up. It never happened, it was a figment of our imagination." Graham straightened up and began cutting his steak. "If I hear about anybody else in this family that's talking about this and saying that it really did exist, then they'll be in trouble."  
  
"But dad, I'm nineteen years old. I'm an adult now, you can't tell me what to do now," Morgan exclaimed angrily.  
  
"You're not an adult yet until you're twenty-one. So keep yourself quiet and enjoy your meal. We're all glad that you're back, Morgan," Graham said.  
  
Morgan ate his dinner, quietly seething at his father. How could he say that kind of stuff? It happened, Morgan knew it did, as well as the rest of the world. And who was this Ayanna woman? Was she behind all this, brainwashing his father so he'd say stuff that wasn't true? Morgan didn't know, but he had to get to the bottom of it all.  
  
An hour later, the Hess family got up and paid for the bill, and then they got into the car and drove quietly home. Nobody seemed to want to talk, afraid that Graham might blow up on them or that Morgan would start arguing. Morgan wouldn't argue if it weren't for Graham acting strange.  
  
After everybody fell asleep, Morgan got up and walked downstairs to the back porch. For what seemed like hours, he stood there, looking out over the cornfield, thinking about nothing in particular. Thoughts of things happening throughout his life went across his mind, the happy moments and the sad moments...him playing baseball, winning a prize for an essay...  
  
Just then, something darted across the backyard at lightening speed and Morgan quickly jumped off the porch and began looking for whatever it was that had just come past here. That was really odd, nothing ever goes that fast, unless it was an alien.  
  
Morgan's stomach lurched. An alien. Did that mean that they had come back again to fight their next battle, the one that when they did come back, the aliens would win? It couldn't be possible, not yet. It wasn't supposed to come until hundreds and thousands of years later, not in Morgan's lifetime.  
  
There was a strange feeling that Morgan was feeling just then. It was as if something was watching him. Stalking him like a cat stalking a mouse and it wasn't a very pleasant feeling.  
  
There was something walking towards Morgan from behind. He forced himself to remain calm, he couldn't panic or whatever it was behind him would instantly attack. He couldn't panic...then suddenly whatever it was grabbed Morgan by the shoulder and he screamed bloody murder. Whatever it had caught him.  
  
A/n: Wasn't the ending that I was intending on...Microsoft Word is evil and had closed me out before I was done typing it up and I didn't feel like typing up everything I had written before, so thus the new ending to the story. Hope you've all enjoyed all the same...by the way, anybody seen The Village yet? I want to go see it and want an opinion on if it's good or not...anyways, happy reading to all.  
  
Midnight Dove- Thanks for reviewing. Yeah I knew Bo was about four in the movie and I figured Morgan to be about nine in the movie. So that makes Morgan and Bo five years apart and thus when I have Morgan as nineteen years old, then that means Bo's fourteen. I hope you honestly didn't think that as Morgan got older, Bo remained at four years old...that's not the way the wheel turns, hon (sorry, I'm in a bad mood as I'm writing this and I'm not really appreciative of people being stupid, not that I'm saying you are or anything...) Please don't take offense and I hope you continue to enjoy the story and I'll try to continue writing before I go on vacation this week. 


	3. Chapter Three

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Morgan yelled bloody murder and turned around quickly. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Bo. At the sound of his yell, she had quickly scurried back up to the porch, staring wide-eyed at him. Morgan smiled at Bo comfortingly.

"Sorry, Bo, I only thought it was something else," Morgan said.

Bo smiled back. "Yeah, you can never tell around here. I wish Dad would still believe you. I don't know what his problem is lately."

"Me, neither. I don't think he was like this before I left," Morgan commented.

"No, he wasn't. He became like this, when he met that one woman," Bo said.

Morgan nodded. Something was going on here and he didn't know what the heck was going on. He wished everything was the same and that he didn't have to go through all of this.

Just then, he heard the door open and Morgan spun around to see his father standing in the doorway. His face fell when he saw that Graham seemed to be angry. What was wrong now? Morgan didn't think he and Bo were doing anything wrong.

"What are you two doing out here?" Graham asked furiously.

"I was just out here looking for the stars and Bo decided to come out here with me. She wanted to know more about the star constellations and the like," Morgan said quickly. Bo nodded in agreement, not wanting to anger their father any further.

"But it's in the middle of the night, I don't want you two out here. There's things out there that can get you whether you're careful or not."

"But why should you care?" Morgan asked, "I'm an adult now, I can go out whenever I want. You allowed me to go away to college and I was able to take care of myself."

Graham's face finally slacked. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry that I became short with you."

"It's ok, dad." Morgan looked at his father slightly suspiciously. Graham was becoming more and more different as he saw him. "Dad, are you sure there isn't anything wrong? You seem to be different since the last time I saw you a year ago. And to think about it, you never wrote to me throughout the year. What's up with that?"

"Nothing, son. It's just that I've been really busy lately and I haven't had the time to write or call," Graham stated.

"Right. You don't even care about what I'm doing? What if I was just blowing off and not going to any of my classes and getting something lower than a B?" Morgan asked.

"Then I probably would've found out and there probably wouldn't be much left of you," Graham retorted.

"You probably wouldn't find out if I had done any of that. College students are adults and the professors don't hold your hand or the parents' hands," Morgan answered.

"Probably, but parents always find a way."

"But as you know, I AM getting good grades, so you're not going to get to blow me to smithereens. I'm going to bed now, I don't want this conversation any longer."

And with that, Morgan pushed Graham out of the way and headed off towards his room. He was so angry with his father that he was shaking. His father didn't have any control on what he could and could not do. Morgan was an adult now, after all. Sometimes he wished uncle Merrill were his father.

Morgan flopped into his computer chair. He was glad that he had his own computer in his own room so he wasn't constantly fighting everybody else for a turn on the computer. Plus he had his own phone number so he wouldn't block the main phone line in case somebody was calling or somebody in the house needed to call somebody while Morgan was online. Morgan paid for it himself, and he believed that it was very well worth it being that way.

As he thought this, Morgan got online and checked his email. Nothing of importance that he could see at the moment, just college friends gibbering about their daily lives. He quickly replied and deleted the old mail. He didn't want it clogging up the old mail section.

After surfing the web for a while, Morgan signed off, turned off the computer and stripped down to his underwear before falling on top of his bed. He was so tired and he didn't know why, he didn't get up early this morning and he had a good night's sleep the night before. Maybe it was coming back home and getting used to his old surroundings again. Soon Morgan fell into another dreamless sleep, not thinking about anything

The next morning, Morgan woke up and stumbled out of his room towards the kitchen. As he came into the kitchen, he found uncle Merrill sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, hands wrapped around for warmth.

"Uncle Merrill," Morgan began as Merrill looked up, "I didn't expect to see you up so early."

Merrill smiled and shook his head. "I didn't expect to see you up so early, either. What brings you up at 7:30?"

Morgan shrugged. "No particular reason. I just woke up abruptly and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to come down here."

Merrill nodded understandably. Morgan smiled at his uncle. Merrill was the best uncle anybody could ever have. He acted like he was still a kid and still in college, which was fine with Morgan. Merrill could give him some pointers for next year.

"So what's up for today?" Morgan asked as he flopped onto the couch beside Merrill.

"Well, it doesn't look a whole lot. Your father said Ayanna's coming over today. So I guess we have to sit and visit with her," Merrill grimaced.

"Bo says she doesn't like teenagers a whole lot," Morgan remembered.

"Personally, I don't think she likes the human race period, but if it works for Graham, it works for everybody," Merrill said.

"But if she doesn't like people, then how come she's taken a liking to dad?" Morgan said.

"Between you and me, I don't have any idea," Merrill commented, "and I haven't a clue why he likes her. But like they say, there's weirdo's in every family."

Morgan laughed. "You can say that again."

Just then, Graham came rushing down the stairs, buttoning up the front of his shirt. As he came into the room, he glared accusingly at Merrill and Morgan. The two of them looked at each other questionably.

"What are you two just sitting there for? Hurry up and get cleaned up, Ayanna's going to be here in half an hour to an hour. She just called me on my cell phone. Bo's just getting ready, and I want you all to follow suit. Hurry up!" Graham snapped as Merrill and Morgan hurried upstairs to get dressed.

About an hour later, Morgan said stock strait on the couch next to Bo and Merrill. Graham was sitting on his comfortable chair, sitting as straight and stiff as anybody else. Morgan glanced at Bo out of the corner of his eye. She seemed uneasy and her eyes darted everywhere around the room. Morgan glanced out of the corner of his other eye and watched Merrill. He also seemed anxious and seemed like he didn't want to be here. Truth be told, Morgan didn't really want to be in the same room with a woman who didn't care for teenagers and was always demanding perfect obedience out of everybody.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the doorbell rang and it seemed like everybody flinched at the sound, including Graham. He stood up stiffly and walked straight-backed towards the door. Before he opened the door he turned to face Merrill, Morgan, and Bo.

"Now, I'm expecting everybody'll be good and not do anything to evoke anger out of Ayanna," Graham said sternly.

"Yes, father," said Morgan and Bo at the same time.

"Yes, Graham, we understand," Merrill assured his brother.

Graham nodded and opened the door. As he helped the woman come through the door, Morgan craned his neck to see her, considering Graham was blocking the way. As she came into the room and Graham began closing the door, Morgan stared in horror. This was who his father was going out with?

Author's Note: Chapter three for everybody. Hope everybody likes so far and I'll try to update as soon as I can. Happy reading and I know you all love reviewing stories.


	4. Chapter Four

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Four

Morgan stared at Ayanna in horror. She was tight lipped with her gray-blonde hair put in its place perfectly in a bun, like she's never had a bad hair day in her life. She was wearing a tight top and a tight miniskirt and high heels that made her ten times taller than her average height. How could his father go out with someone old who thought she was still young? No wonder she hated teenagers. She was too ugly to be cute like teenagers were.

Ayanna waltzed over to Graham's favorite chair and sat daintily into the chair. She stared as if accusingly at Merrill, Bo, and Morgan as if they smelled of bad fish. Truth be told, she seemed like a fish to Morgan. Her nose seemed to be small, yet pointy at the same time and her mouth puckered out ever so slightly.

Graham walked over and sat on the wooden chair next to Ayanna. He smiled nervously at her, but she never responded and Graham's smile quickly disappeared.

"What's wrong, Ayanna, dear?" he asked.

"Oh, there's something wrong all right," said Ayanna in a deep voice that Morgan didn't expect from such a thin woman. He almost expect a squeaky, mousy voice from her. "Your brother here's looking cocky and your daughter's following suit."

"Bu--," Merrill began.

"Don't talk back, young man!" Ayanna said shrilly. "Remember that I am older than you even though you're Graham's brother and you are also an adult! And Bo, I am ashamed of you, you know better than to follow after what you see someone else do. You are only a child!"

"But Miss Ayanna, I wasn't following anything that uncle Merrill—"

"Don't talk to me that way, young lady! Don't tell me what I don't know! I'm going to be your mother soon and you better get used to obeying me! Honestly, Graham, I don't know how you let your ex-wife to spoil her like this," Ayanna said.

"I must say I wasn't around much when she was taking care of the children because of my ministry job," Graham stated.

"Of course, and I don't blame you one bit. It was all your ex wife's fault. She should've been more strict while raising her."

"That's not true!" Morgan stood up angrily and Ayanna turned to stare at Morgan beadily.

"And who are you, young man?" Ayanna asked softly.

Morgan took this to be a danger sign, but he didn't care. Nobody insulted his mother and got away with it.

"My name's Morgan Hess and Bo's my sister, Merrill's my uncle, Graham's my father and the lady that you were just insulting was my mother. I don't appreciate my mother being talked about like that," Morgan said angrily.

"Ah, but your mother left your father for another man. What kind of a mother is she if she left you children and your father to fend for yourselves? I would be a much better mother than yours ever will be," Ayanna stated.

"My mother died in a car accident," Morgan said so angrily he was whispering.

"I am afraid that's where you are mistaken. Your father just said she died at the time so you would keep a good memory on her. But now that you're older, you have the right to know about the truth," Ayanna exclaimed.

"And why should I believe you on that subject? I'm nineteen years old and I can make my own decisions on what I think is fact or fiction. You're not the one who's controlling me on what I want to decide," Morgan yelled at her.

The two of them stared each other down for what seemed like a long time. Morgan was so angry that he was willing to yell some more to get his point across because he was absolutely certain that he was right. This old woman couldn't tell him what he knew had actually happened. And his father should've known better and told her off for saying untrue things to his children. What was wrong with his father anyway? Why was he going with her?

"I think that it's better off that you stay home instead of coming with us to the restaurant. And I don't think you should be allowed to have any supper whatsoever. That's how I was raised, it taught us discipline. Graham," Ayanna turned to Morgan's father, "I would suggest you send your son up to your room and lock him in there so you'll be sure that he doesn't eat anything while we're gone."

"If you think that is the best method to teach him with, Ayanna dear," Graham said soothingly to her.

"And I stand behind it quite firmly," Ayanna reassured Graham.

"Well, then in that case," Graham stood and faced Morgan, "off to your room, Morgan. Now."

"I don't mind staying home as punishment but being refrained from eating is a little bit too harsh, dad," Morgan reeled onto his father.

"You will do as I say, Morgan, or you'll get further punishment. I'm sure you would not like that to happen to you," Graham said sternly.

"Of course not," Morgan said and with a turn on his heel, he raced out of the room, headed upstairs and slammed the door behind him.

Morgan kneeled onto his bed and began punching his pillow as hard as he could before dropping exhausted onto his bed all the way. Why did everything have to go wrong? He thought coming home would be a happy experience and everybody would be glad that he was home. But when he came home, Morgan found that his father was acting weird and his new girlfriend was controlling every aspect of life that was enjoyable here at the farm.

"We're leaving now, Morgan," Graham's voice came through the door. "We'll be back in a while. I hope you'll be thinking about everything that has been said downstairs."

"Sure, dad," Morgan said, his voice muffled from the pillow.

"Please, Morgan, I don't want you to go through this. I'm only trying to do what's best for you, I hope you understand that," Graham continued.

"I understand dad, go have fun with your girlfriend and Merrill and Bo," Morgan said to him.

"Ok, then," Graham said.

Morgan heard his door being locked and footsteps going down the hallway and going down the steps. Distantly he heard the front door slam. Personally he was glad they left without him. He didn't want to be that crooked old woman one more minute and he was only in her presence for about ten minutes. Soon Morgan fell asleep.


	5. Chapter Five

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Five

Morgan woke up with his stomach rumbling. He never felt so hungry in his life. He hoped that he was allowed to eat some breakfast this morning and also hoped that his door was unlocked so he could get out. It wasn't very fun being locked up in his room for a night.

Morgan got up out of bed and walked over to his bedroom door, trying the doorknob. When he turned the doorknob, the door opened. Morgan grinned and walked through the door and headed downstairs. So his dad actually opened the door before he went to bed last night. That was a good thing.

When he got downstairs, Morgan saw Merrill sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of Wheaties. Merrill was still in his boxers and undershirt with his moppy hair sticking up in every direction and sleep still in the man's eyes. Merrill looked up as Morgan came into the room and crossed the room to get a bowl of cereal.

"How're you doing, kid?" Merrill asked.

"Starving, that's what," Morgan said.

"I would bet, considering that old witch locked you up and didn't let you have anything to eat. I would've done something, but you know, she has that overwhelming power, you know?" Merrill stated.

"Hey, don't worry about it, uncle Merrill," Morgan said. "Being hungry locked up in my room is way better than being in company with that old witch that dad's in love with."

"Better not say that too loud," Merrill said, "Graham might overhear you and punish you."

"He could, but I don't think he should, since I'm over eighteen now and I can take care of myself now." Morgan walked to the table and sat down next to his uncle. He was glad that Merrill was here, because Morgan didn't know how he would survive with everybody acting strange. Well, Bo didn't act too strange since the alien invasion, so Morgan couldn't say that about her sister.

Just then, Bo came into the kitchen, also in her nightgown and looking like she hardly got enough sleep. Didn't everybody get a good night's sleep last night? Morgan could hardly think so.

"Is dad up yet?" Bo asked as she helped herself to some cereal and putting some bread into the toaster.

"No, not yet," Merrill said.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Morgan asked.

"Come on, Morgan, you should know that answer," Merrill stated.

"I'll take that as a bad thing," Morgan said.

"Yeah, he was staring daggers at everybody last night as if to say if anybody does anything after Morgan, then they'd get punished," Bo commented.

"That's horrible. I wouldn't understand why he'd be this way," Morgan said.

"It's because of that woman. If she weren't in his life, then he wouldn't be that way. And maybe that's another reason why we hardly kept in contact with you while you were away in college," Merrill said.

"I was wondering why you guys didn't answer my letters often enough over the year," Morgan said.

Bo nodded in agreement. "Ayanna said that if anybody answered my letters too often, there'd be punishment because she thought that if you were written too that it'd do something to you as a person."

Morgan shook his head. He didn't understand this. How did Graham get into this relationship? He knew that his father would never have gotten into this kind of relationship. Graham just didn't believe in that kind of stuff. It wasn't God's will to be mean or anything of that sort.

Graham entered the kitchen and everybody fell silent, looking at the man. Graham smiled at everybody and headed over to the counter.

"Good morning everybody. How are you all this morning?" Graham asked as he helped himself to some cereal.

"We're doing the best we can be," Morgan said.

Graham whirled around to face Morgan. "Son, I wanted to say that I'm extremely disappointed in you. I thought you'd be a better person last night. Ayanna was just trying to help. She's the best thing that could've happened to this family."

"She's not, either. She makes us all miserable, dad. She acts like she's in control of everybody and if she can't have her way--she makes you punish us. How did you two meet, dad?" Morgan asked.

"I met her at church. She said she was new around these parts and that she was trying to find a church and was recommended our church, so she came to ours, and liked what she saw and now she's in our life," Graham said.

"Personally, I think she's a prat that needs to get out of this town because she's tearing our family apart," Morgan said.

"Morgan, I think you're getting a bit too far," Graham stated.

Morgan stood up in anger. "No, you're getting a bit too far. We had a wonderful life until that lady came here. We were actually a family then and now we're falling apart. Sometimes I wish I stayed at the college for the summer. I'm going outside now; I can't take any of this anymore. See you later."

Morgan stormed out the front door and slammed the door behind him. He had to figure out who this Ayanna is, why she came here and what her purpose was. As soon as he met this Ayanna he had a bad feeling about the woman, as if she was just using them all. And Morgan didn't know for sure, but when he looked into her eyes, there was an evil glint that reminded Morgan of the alien that had come into their house the night of the alien invasion.

Morgan shook his head. He was just imagining things just because he didn't like the woman. After all, he still hadn't gotten over the alien invasion and still had nightmares about it sometime and things like the glint of Ayanna's eyes reminded him of the event.

Morgan started walking towards the library. He had to do some research and see what more stuff he could find about aliens and evil people. There had to be a stop to this madness now.


	6. Chapter Six

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Hours later, Morgan sat at the library table with his head in his hands reading a book about some doctor writing about the extraterrestrial life, but there was absolutely nothing to aide him in what he was looking for. Morgan sighed as he turned the page of the book and scanned the page. Nothing. He looked over to the next page, but still there was nothing. Why did this have to be so difficult? Sometimes he wished that extraterrestrial life was more known so that people like him could understand it and try to act upon it when they come across something suspicious.

A hand touched Morgan's shoulder and he jumped in surprise. He calmed down when he saw that it was his sister. He rolled his eyes as Bo sat down and watched him silently. Why did she have to come follow Morgan wherever he want? It wasn't right, none whatsoever.

"What do you want, Bo?" Morgan asked in frustration.

"Dad wanted me to come and look for you and to tell you that it's time to come home, dinner's almost ready," Bo answered, "and you don't have to be so snappy, Morgan, I'm only trying to help."

"Only trying to help? How are you helping? I can only do what I'm doing by myself," Morgan said.

"Are you trying to figure out if Ayanna's really an extraterrestrial or not?" Bo asked suddenly.

Morgan looked up at his little sister in surprise. "How do you know that?"

Bo pointed to the book Morgan was reading. "I saw you were reading an extraterrestrial book and so I figured that's what you were doing. It's pretty logical thinking."

"I would say so." Morgan looked back at the book he was reading. "This is so frustrating. I'm looking for something that might suggest that extraterrestrials can change their form to that of a human's but I can't find anything."

"I can't really help you there, Morgan."

"I know you can't."

Morgan went back to staring at the book. Nothing, absolutely nothing and Morgan couldn't leave until he figured out what was happening. Because if he didn't now, then he'd never figure it out and his family would be divided forever.

"Have you tried using the index in the books?" Bo asked suddenly.

Morgan blinked as he stared at his sister. "Looking in the index? Why?"

Bo shrugged. "It might help your search a whole lot faster and then we could get home sooner and dad wouldn't be angry with us."

"Bo, you're a genius," Morgan said as he flipped hurriedly to the index.

As he was flipping, a page caught his attention and he stopped flipping the pages. At the top it read "How you can tell if somebody is Just a Human—or really an Extraterrestrial". Morgan began to quickly read at top speed. This was just his luck.

"I thought you were going to look in the index," Bo said.

"Not anymore. Look, it says that some aliens can change their appearance to that of a human's and that there are some tell tale signs they aren't who they appear to be. They can be controlling and quick to temper. The alien in question never stays around for more than half a day because their costume begins to fade and their anger becomes more intense. Their ability also extends to being able to control the person that they wish manipulate them to do what they want."

Morgan looked up at Bo. "That's what's happening with dad and Ayanna's temperament. We need to get this page copied and get back home."

"Come on, then," Bo said and the two of them stood quickly and hurried to the copier machine.

Soon they were hurrying on their way back home. Morgan's heart rate was speeding as he clutched the copy as he trudged back home. Maybe they could finally get this situation under control.

As they reached home, Morgan burst through the front door with Bo following closely behind him. The dogs ran to them and began barking madly.

"Be quiet, you two," Morgan said, but they didn't stop and Morgan decided to leave it be and go through to the living room. "Dad? Uncle Merrill?"

Bo walked closely to Morgan as she looked around her fearfully. "Does it feel like something's not right to you here, Morgan?"

"Yeah, it does…"

Suddenly, Morgan ran into something hard and he stumbled back in surprise. He was staring into the chest of something very green and very muscular. His eyes traveled slowly up the body and were met with cold, black eyes.

"So, the duo returns and just in time, too," the thing said. Its voice was cold and pressing to high and squeaky, but not quite.

Morgan suddenly felt him not being able to breathe. Oh, no, he thought. Not an asthma attack. Not here, not now…Morgan groped frantically in his pocket for his inhaler but couldn't find it. This was exactly what happened the last time when the aliens invaded and he was unable to help his family. But this time it was just he and Bo and nothing was going to help.

Bo grabbed Morgan's arm. "Breathe, Morgan, don't let it overcome you, not now. You can do it, Morgan, please."

The alien let out a hard, cold laugh as Morgan's knees buckled and he fell to the ground. He was choking, gagging. It was like falling like a sack of rocks in the water with nowhere to grab. Soon Morgan felt himself fall into unconscious and his last thought was that he had to stay alive or Bo wasn't going to survive.


	7. Chapter Seven

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Waking up slowly, Morgan found that his vision was blurry and he felt disoriented. Trying to move, he realized that he had been tied up and was lying on a hard, concrete floor. Looking around him, he saw that he was in his own basement.

"Bo? Where are you?" he called out.

Instead of her voice, Morgan heard a clicking sound and he turned his face sharply to one side and gasped when he saw the alien version of Ayanna stand over him. Gasping, Morgan struggled to move to the left so he could get as far away from the thing as possible, but he could go only so far and Ayanna began laughing in a high cold voice.

"I don't think you can get far, my friend," she said coldly.

"What did you do with my sister?" Morgan growled, "if you have done anything to her, I swear I'll kill you."

"Such bold and noble words, but your sister is safe and sound, but she's tied up as well," Ayanna said.

"In what part of the house?" Morgan demanded.

Ayanna shrugged. "Oh, across the room from you, but she's still knocked out cold. I believe I have done a favor for your father by doing this."

"So you _have_ done something to my father! I knew it! I knew he wasn't himself since I came back, and now that I think about it, you were probably doing something to him while I was at college because I never heard from him nor my sister or uncle Merrill…as a matter of fact, where are they?" Morgan all but shouted.

"That, I don't know," Ayanna's face suddenly turned sour, "but I'm sure you know where they are. Can you tell me that, earthling?"

"I don't know where they are," Morgan said truthfully. _Someone please, help me._

"You're a liar!" Ayanna hissed, "now tell me, where are they?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know!" Morgan all but yelled, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

Silence followed Morgan's bursting out and all he could hear was Ayanna pacing around and clicking a strange sound, perhaps her own language. This was just great, Morgan thought, tied up in the basement of your own house waiting to die any second by some alien from outer space. This certainly looked to be something from a horror movie.

Finally Ayanna stopped pacing and stared at Morgan. "I'll be going upstairs to look for your family, to see if you are telling the truth. And you better hope I find them, or the consequences will be dire."

Morgan watched as Ayanna climbed up the stairs with a panicking and sinking heart. This was it, she wasn't going to find his dad and uncle and then she was going to come back down here and kill him and his sister off with no thought whatsoever.

"Morgan?" a small voice said across the room.

"Bo!" Morgan croaked in relief, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, but I'm tied up and I can't but I can barely move. Morgan, I'm scared," Bo cried.

"Don't worry, Bo. I'm scared, too, but we're going to have to be strong, for dad and Uncle Merrill. Do you understand that? Be strong, Bo," Morgan said, trying to reassure his sister as well as himself.

"What are we going to do, Morgan? We can't just sit here why she goes on a rampage to find everybody," Bo said, panic showing through in her voice.

"We'll find a way." Morgan fell silent for several moments, thinking desperately. He had to do something. Suddenly he had an idea. "Bo, do you think you could crawl over to where I am? Dad's old axe is over here and we might be able to get free."

"I'll try." Morgan suddenly heard her scuffling with her body towards him. As she was crawling over, Morgan slowly sat up and turned around so his feet were next to the axe. This had better work.

Pulling his feet apart as much as he could, Morgan lowered the small strip down of rope on the axe and began pushing his feet against the axe. After ten painful minutes, the rope broke free and Morgan dropped his feet in relief. By this time, Bo had managed to worm her way over to where Morgan was.

Sitting up, Morgan wiped his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. This was a lot harder work than he had anticipated. Looking at Bo, he gave her an encouraging smile as if that would help her calm down.

"I think if I can get my hands free, I will be able to untie you, Bo," Morgan said.

Bo nodded. "Do you think I could try? I can still move my hands a little bit. I could untie you and then you'll be able to untie me."

Morgan nodded. "If you wish." He held out his hands and Bo slowly began to untie the tight knot.

Another fifteen minutes passed before Bo finally got Morgan's hands free. Sighing with relief, Morgan rubbed his hands gingerly.

"Those surely were painful," Morgan commented. "I'm certainly glad I won't ever be arrested."

"Yes, but could you please untie me? I don't think my blood's circulating to my hands or feet," Bo complained.

"Oh, right." Morgan reached for Bo's hands and quickly began untying his sister. Not long afterwards he had her completely untied—hands and feet.

The two of them stood up and stretched. It was so nice to stand up straight and not be cramped up on the floor. In the future Morgan would dread going into the basement, or lying on the floor in long periods of time.

"Right, we have to go upstairs now and we have to be careful to not make any sounds, in case Ayanna's up there, waiting for us," Morgan said in a low tone.

Bo nodded and grabbed Morgan's hand, squeezing it tight in fear. Morgan nodded in satisfaction and the two of them headed upstairs. The two of them quietly searched the upstairs rooms and the kitchen. Nobody was there.

"Where is everybody?" Bo whispered.

Morgan didn't answer. He was wondering the exact same thing. Turning towards the door, Morgan suddenly jumped in surprise. His father was standing in the doorway. Morgan nearly sighed with relief. Maybe he'd be able to help them find Ayanna.

"Dad, Ayanna's an alien, we have to find her and dispose of her quickly before she harms us or anybody else," Morgan exclaimed.

But Graham didn't speak. He was staring past them as if he was in a trance. Morgan looked at him, confused.

"Dad, what's wrong? What are you looking at?" Morgan demanded.

"Morgan," Bo said in a fearful voice, "Turn around."

Morgan felt a sudden fear as he turned slowly around. All his worst fears had come true. Ayanna was in the room and had stepped out of her disguise. She had come to finish off her prey.

**Author's Note:** I'm so sorry I haven't had the time to update this story. I just got impatient with it and lost my inspiration for it. But as I have a feeling there's only going to be a couple more chapters or so for this story, I'll probably be finishing it up in the next week or so, if that pleases you. Thanks all for who have been patient with me while working on this story—I don't know if I'll be writing any more _Signs_ stories, but if I do, I'm sure you'll all know in some way or fashion. Thanks again for all those who've reviewed and I'll try to update the story in a couple of days or so.


	8. Chapter Eight

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Morgan stood paralyzed with fear as he watched the alien Ayanna walking slowly to his father, who was probably being hypnotized by Ayanna's overpowering stare that she had given Morgan earlier.

He didn't know what to do, but he felt as if he had to do something. Yet he felt as if he was paralyzed, as if someone had put a curse on him and considering the circumstances, Morgan didn't doubt it.

"Dad," Bo cried near the kitchen door and Morgan had a feeling that she couldn't move, either.

Ayanna quickly turned around and made a strange hissing sound. A chill of fear went down Morgan's spine. He was beginning to hate aliens to a new level and hoped that something or somebody would help him, and soon.

"You are nothing more than a meddling boy," Ayanna hissed, "you always were."

"How about you tell me something new?" Morgan sneered. "You keep repeating yourself. How about you tell me something useful, like how you decided to choose my father for your evil deeds."

"Because he's easy bait. I could lure you and your sister here easily and keep you here. You have seen my people before and I want to get rid of all who's ever seen my kind. Nobody needs to know that we exist. And anyway, your kind is a weaker race. Nobody needs you all to be around," Ayanna explained.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Morgan said bitterly, "but you don't need to kill us all, we never did anything to you."

"Oh, yes you did. Your uncle killed my brother many years ago and you need to pay," Ayanna said.

Turning back to Graham, Ayanna walked slowly towards him, a small, slow grin spreading across her face. Knowing her, the woman probably enjoyed doing this kind of thing and probably did this back where she came from and terrorized the people within a hundred feet from her.

"Now tell me, Graham," she was saying, "where is your brother Merrill?"

"Here in this house," Graham said in a strange mechanical voice which sent shivers down Morgan's spine.

"But where in the house, Graham? There's only so many places he can be and I have searched all over," Ayanna hissed.

"I don't know," Graham said in the same monotone voice.

Ayanna hissed and grabbing the nearest object, threw it across the room against the wall. Morgan flinched, but still didn't move. Even if he did, this crazy thing'd probably kill him.

"Why don't you just leave him alone?" Bo suddenly said. "My dad didn't do anything and your angry because doesn't know anything. He doesn't keep tabs on every single thing that everybody in this house does."

"I wouldn't speak in that tone of voice to me again, little girl, I could easily kill you if I wanted to, you know," Ayanna snapped, turning to Bo.

"And you won't speak to my niece like that again," said a voice from behind Bo.

Morgan turned his head slightly and saw his uncle Merrill standing in the doorway with his bat clutched tightly between his hands. Morgan could hear Ayanna hissing with rage.

"You will pay for this," Ayanna growled.

"Oh, will I? I would like to see you try. Morgan, remember the water," Merrill said and suddenly he spurted foreword and swung his bat as hard as he could at Ayanna.

Ayanna staggered back and hissed with rage as Bo screamed. Morgan's mind raced. The water, why didn't he think of that? Aliens were severely allergic to water and died on contact. There wasn't any time to lose now.

Morgan spurted towards the refrigerator where they kept a pitcher of water as Merrill and the alien Ayanna fought out an all out battle. Flinging the door open, Morgan grabbed the pitcher of water and quickly turned around.

"Morgan, do it now! Throw the water on her!" Merrill yelled as he continued to swing his bat at Ayanna.

But Morgan couldn't. He was starting to feel an asthma attack coming on, but he wasn't anywhere near his medicine. With his free hand, Morgan clutched his throat in agony. It was so painful not being able to breath…

"Morgan, do it now!" Merrill screamed.

His breathing getting shallower by the minute, Morgan tore his hand away and clutched the pitcher with both hands and flung the water at Ayanna. The alien screamed in pain and as she fell down dead, Morgan collapsed on the floor unconscious, not knowing anymore.


	9. Epilogue

/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Morgan stood at the airport with his family clutching his suitcase. It was that time again to go back to college, though he hadn't wanted to. The days were hard and tedious and full with worry as Graham, Merrill, and Bo stood around Morgan's hospital bed, wondering if Morgan would come out of his asthma related coma. But after a couple of weeks, Morgan did and was sent home a couple of days later.

But that wasn't the reason Morgan didn't want to go back to his college more than a thousand miles away. He was afraid that something might happen while he was away, like what happened this past year where Graham was being influenced by an alien who wouldn't allow contact with his son. But everybody insisted that Morgan go back to college and get his degree so he could get a good job later in life.

As they stood on the platform, Morgan turned to his father. "Are you sure you'll write to me while I'm away?"

Graham smiled. He could understand his son's fear because of what happened the past year, even though he didn't remember most of what happened.

"I promise I'll write as often as I can. I'm sure you don't want to be worried that any of us will be under the influence of something not from this world," Graham assured Morgan.

Morgan nodded and turned to his uncle and sister. "And you two will write, too. I don't to think any of you are in danger, or I'll be coming straight home."

"Of course and if there's anything out of the ordinary we'll be sure to keep you updated," Merrill said with a smile.

"Even unusual relationships," Bo put in and everybody laughed.

"Well, you better get on that plane, son, or you'll never get to your college in time," Graham said and Morgan nodded.

Giving everybody a hug, Morgan wiped a tear away. "I'll be sure to call you when I get there."

And with a wave, Morgan gripped his suitcase and walked to the terminal gait with a confident gait. Graham, Bo, and Merrill watched Morgan disappear into the plane in silence.

"I hate to see him go," Graham said.

"Well, he's almost twenty now, he needs to make his own way in the world," Merrill said.

"Yes, of course. I just hate seeing my children growing up so fast," Graham said and smiled down at Bo.

Bo smiled back at Graham. "Don't worry, daddy, I'll still be here for a long while yet."

"Of course you will," Graham smiled.

"And anyways, if you don't leave, you can't come home to see what news there is there," Merrill said with a wink.

The three of them laughed. Bo looked up at her father and her uncle Merrill.

"Let's go home, shall we?" she asked and everybody nodded in agreement.

"Yes, coming home's the best part," Graham exclaimed.

And arm in arm, the three of them walked out of the airport, towards home.

**Author's Note:** Lame ending, I know and a very short chapter, but that's all I could think of for the story. I hope you all enjoyed this story and continue to read all of my other stuff. Thanks to all of those who have been reviewing and had liked this story and I hope to see you all reviewing in the near future 


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